The Lied Center for Performing Arts will host “A Conversation with Amy Tan,” featuring the popular and prolific author, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24.
The free event is the 29th Annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities, presented by Humanities Nebraska, and the first event in the 2024-25 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues.
Tickets can be reserved through the Lied Center by clicking here, calling 402-472-4747 or visiting the Lied’s box office, 301 N. 12th St. The lecture is general admission, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. It will be livestreamed here.
Tan is the author of many novels, including “The Joy Luck Club” and “The Kitchen God's Wife,” as well as two memoirs and two children's books. She was co-producer and co-screenwriter of “The Joy Luck Club” film, released in 1993. She is also the subject of a documentary, “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir,” and a fiction writing instructor on MasterClass. Tan is a National Humanities Medal recipient, member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and American Bird Conservancy board member. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she spent hours observing the behavior of wild birds in her backyard. She turned her pencil sketches, colored portraits and journal notes into an illustrated book, “The Backyard Bird Chronicles,” published in April.
Events leading up to Tan’s lecture include a Lincoln City Libraries’ event, “Exploring the Works of Amy Tan,” from 2 to 3 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Walt Branch Library, 6701 S. 14th St.; and a Kruger Gallery open house of special exhibits that celebrate “The Backyard Bird Chronicles” from 3 to 7 p.m. Sept. 24 in Room 831 of Oldfather Hall, 660 N. 12th St. The events are free and open to the public.
The 2024-25 E.N. Thompson season is organized around the theme “Lessons from the Natural World” and will explore the beauty, wonder and wisdom of our living planet and vast universe.
Other speakers in the series include author, editor and professor Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Oct. 17-18); science journalist and author Ed Yong (March 25, 2025); and astrophysicist, author, science communicator and planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson (April 22, 2025). For more information on the series, including how to obtain tickets, click here.
Event summaries and additional information on each speaker are available here.
The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center and University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The series was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage discussion.
